Chimera Ants.
These creatures were supposed to live on the Dark Continent. Why the hell were they showing up inside these ruins?
And from the looks of it, they had been living here for quite a while.
With the Chimera Ants' feeding and reproduction traits, after all these years they should have already devoured ability users, awakened Nen, and developed extremely high intelligence.
So why hadn't they left the nest?
Even the two ants Ronin had spotted from a distance felt completely different from the ones that had rampaged through East Gorteau and NGL in the old stories.
These ants looked far more like ordinary ants from nature. They hadn't evolved away most of their ant features the way the manga versions had. They didn't resemble other creatures or humans at all.
But no matter what they looked like, V5 had classified Chimera Ants as a top-tier quarantine species for a reason. They were extremely dangerous.
If something on the level of the Ant King or the Royal Guards had been born here, then the seventeen-person team that had just walked into this nest could easily get wiped out.
They needed to kill those two distant ants as fast as possible and figure out exactly what was going on inside the nest.
If this really was the worst-case scenario—if something that strong had already been born—then Ronin only had one plan: get everyone out of the ruins immediately and let the Hunter Association's upper ranks, the Zodiacs, or Chairman Netero himself take over.
Ronin was confident in his own strength.
But going up against something whose aura output alone could crush him several times over, while also wielding unknown abilities? Even he couldn't guarantee a win.
With that thought in mind, Ronin—who had stayed back until now—launched his first attack since entering the nest.
Lightning Style Chakra Mode activated instantly. A sharp, piercing bird-like cry rang out at the same time.
Before anyone else could react, a streak of electric light flashed and vanished from where Ronin had been standing.
His speed was insane.
The charging beasts never even registered that he had already blown past them and was heading straight for the ants in the rear.
Even the two Nen-bearing ants at the back hadn't expected it. The moment that ear-splitting sound appeared, a figure wrapped in blue lightning was already right beside them.
Chidori.
Ronin's silhouette blurred past them.
All that remained were two ant corpses, bodies torn open by the lightning chakra.
Even though he had sensed Nen on them, these low-level soldier ants were still the kind of small fry he could crush with raw power.
His sudden move left the rest of the team staring in shock, eyes wide.
They had known Ronin was strong, but they hadn't expected him to be operating on an entirely different level.
That kind of speed? Most of them weren't even confident they could track it, let alone defend against the attack that came with it.
This was someone who chased absolute speed and overwhelming offensive power.
After seeing that burst of ability, most of the team had already slapped a very clear label on Ronin in their minds.
Maschur quietly dispersed the massive amount of aura he had been gathering in both hands.
The second he realized these were Chimera Ants, his thoughts had lined up with Ronin's. They had to figure out what was going on here as fast as possible.
Especially before more ability users died.
No one knew exactly what would happen if Chimera Ants kept being fed ability users.
But anyone who knew the species could easily imagine how terrifying an ant that had evolved by devouring Nen users would become.
Benket looked like he wanted to say something, but Ronin was already gone, sprinting alone toward the heart of the nest. Maschur and Vanessa exchanged a glance, then broke away from the group and followed.
Out of everyone in the team, the only one the three of them rated at all was Colin.
That javelin-throwing ability of his actually had some real weight to it. If used right, the destructive power could be terrifying.
As for the organizer, Benket, they had already seen what his combat ability looked like while dealing with the regular monsters. His skills might have some value, but his fundamentals were nowhere near solid.
Once Ronin was out of the team's line of sight, he created a Shadow Clone. The clone immediately continued racing deeper into the forest while Ronin himself slowed down just enough for Maschur and Vanessa to catch up a few seconds later.
Neither of them said anything. They both knew exactly what Ronin had done.
Vanessa felt noticeably more relaxed now that she was moving with Ronin. From the way she positioned herself, though, it was obvious she was already ready to slip into the shadows and run the second things went south.
Maschur felt Vanessa's presence settle into his shadow like it always did and didn't even blink. He was used to it by now.
If Vanessa ever stopped hiding in his shadow during a joint operation, that would be the day he started worrying.
"If we run into something we can't handle, we pull out immediately," Maschur said. "The captain can send in the big golem to support us whenever we need it."
Ronin nodded.
Exploring the ruins was the mercenary group's job. They couldn't expect Ronin to charge in alone every time.
The earlier exploration of the Kurta section had been different—that had been a direct deal between Muir and Ronin, and Ronin had held the line with his own power.
But now that they were pushing into the central area, if a real crisis hit, the mercenary group would still try to handle it themselves.
Unless the threat was truly beyond them, they wouldn't abandon the mission lightly.
Even so, if the worst really happened, even the big golem might not be enough—especially since it probably hadn't shown its full strength during the earlier fights.
While they were talking, the Shadow Clone had already covered several hundred meters.
It moved between the trees like a ghost gliding through the forest.
The deeper it went, the more giant ants appeared in its vision. The rhythmic thumping sound filled its ears.
Were these really Chimera Ants?
The thought formed in the clone's mind.
The key detail was that every ant it encountered was the exact same soldier type. None of them showed the wildly varied genetic fusion traits that Chimera Ants were famous for.
Lightning chakra flickered across the clone's body. Instead of Chidori this time, it switched to Four Original Hands.
Every ant that crossed its path was sliced cleanly in half by the lightning-wreathed strikes.
The bisected bodies twitched and thrashed on the ground, letting out shrill, piercing screams.
More ants nearby started moving toward the noise, but the clone was already gone, vanishing into the trees at full speed.
As it raced forward, a new sound slowly reached its ears.
A low buzzing.
The clone looked up.
Massive flying ants were already diving straight toward it from above.